


Summer Rain

by Shiba_K



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 19:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7187483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiba_K/pseuds/Shiba_K
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the rain outside and the rain inside one's soul. </p>
<p>Clara finds a rain soaked Time Lord near her apartment and takes him in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This is a piece I wrote sometime late 2014. There is no dialogue because words are sometimes overrated and actions can often speak louder than any word can.

The warm summer rain had been coming down steadily for the whole day now, beating relentlessly upon the roofs of houses and the streets. Big, fat drops splashed down from the sky creating ripples in puddles and soaking anyone who dared venture out in the downpour in a matter of seconds. 

So when she found him sitting on the curb of the pavement in front of her apartment building, he was drenched to the bone. 

His dark coat had long since lost its purpose and hung heavy and limp from his thin frame. The red lining clashed painfully with the dull colors of the world around. His arms were stretched on his bent knees, long tapered fingers splayed open and hung aimlessly downwards with water dripping from their tips. His normally curly hair lay flat against his scalp, matted down on his forehead. Its silver shine now replaced by a dark, moody gray that reflected perfectly the color of the sky above him. His shoulders slumped forwards and his head hung between his outstretched arms while his usually sparkling blue-gray eyes stared unseeing at the uneven surface of the pavement on which he sat. 

The rain drummed an unrelenting beat on his head with its pitter-patter, but he barely registered it. His mind was drowning in the stormy sea of his thoughts. It had been raining inside him for so long now that the water had gathered to form a sea and the rolling waves threatened to pull him under. He could only hold his breath for so long. 

When the rain suddenly stopped, he blinked in surprise. 

As he raised his head, the first thing he saw were the seams of a brightly colored sundress. It formed a stark contrast with the gray tones of the world surrounding him, inserting a splash of color into the despairing grayness. As his eyes trailed slowly upwards a hand, open in silent invitation, appeared in his field of vision, followed by an arm and torso, and eventually a gently smiling face framed by rich, wavy brown hair. The owner of the kind smile held an open umbrella in her other hand, creating a small, temporary haven from the deluge for them both.

She never spoke a word, just held out her hand for him to take, waiting patiently, her gentle smile never faltering. 

Tentatively, he reached for her, grabbing her hand in his and wearily pulling himself up from his sitting position, long limbs stiff and protesting after remaining still for so long. A hint of warmth began to diffuse itself in his hand when he had taken hers, driving away the chill that had taken over his body.

Even the angry sea of thoughts threatening to pull him under calmed a little at her touch. 

Never letting go of his hand, she led him inside, up several flights of stairs and into a dry and welcoming flat. 

He wanted to apologize for dripping water all over her floor as he stood there shivering from the wet clothes stuck to his body. But he found that the words would not come out, instead remaining stuck in his throat. She silently shook her head, her ever present smile telling him it was okay, that she understood. 

She left him standing in her living room by himself for a few minutes, gone to put away the dripping umbrella and to fetch some towels for him. He never strayed from his spot, just watched her move around the different rooms of her home with ease and confidence. 

When she returned, she deposited the towels on the coffee table before reaching up to push his coat off of his shoulders. The heavy garment fell to the floor with a squelch, immediately creating a large puddle at their feet. He looked down at it and suddenly noticed that she was now shoeless, her toes wriggling as they touched the water. A gentle finger under his chin brought his attention back to her. A soft, yellow towel was in her hand and she motioned for him to bend forward so she could reach his head.

A comfortable silence reigned as she dried his hair, leaving it spiky and unruly. Her laugh at the sight of his disheveled curls was warm and happy. In an attempt to tame it, she smoothed her hand through it and he immediately leaned into her warm caress, feeling himself no longer on the verge of drowning but merely floating calmly as the storm eased. 

Satisfied with her handiwork, she moved on to his shoulders and chest, picking up a fresh towel and discarding the other one next to his coat. She enveloped him entirely in a huge fluffy monstrosity that she passed for a towel and rubbed his chest, doing her best to squeeze the excess water from his white shirt and waistcoat. It was then that his hands rose to grab her wrists, halting her movements. She looked up at him questioningly, but now it was his turn to shook his head. 

Neither of them spoke as they stood regarding each other while he held her wrists, his grip gentle. Her efforts to dry him had helped calm the storm inside his soul, but it still lurked there under the seemingly calm surface. She held the power to make it disappear entirely and she was all too willing to help him, he just needed to find the courage to ask. 

Carefully, he slipped the towel off his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor to join the drenched coat and its twin. No longer held by his cool hands, her own splayed on his chest right above his hearts causing him to hesitate, suddenly uncertain of his movements, unpracticed and strange as they were. Did he even know how? But once again she came to his rescue, smiling encouragingly and waiting quietly, giving him all the time he needed. The heat of her hands anchored him, made sure that he no longer could be swept away by the waves of his fears. 

Gradually he shifted, moving past the hurdle that kept him back. He stepped closer to her and lifted his long arms to envelope her with them, pulling her against his damp chest. She went to him easily, wrapping her own arms around his neck and rising on tip-toes to bury her face in the spot where his neck met his shoulder, inhaling the fresh scent of the summer rain mixed with his. 

The tension in his muscles melted bit by bit as he finally allowed himself to hug her. Their bodies pressed tightly together and he let himself to draw from her strength. The heat from her body seeped into his, reaching deep inside all the way down to his core. The sea of his tormented thoughts receded and he found he could touch the ground with his feet for the first time in a very long while. 

Outside, the world had become quiet too as the day slipped away taking with it the gloomy clouds and their rain and making place for the silvery light of the moon which shined brightly in the darkness of the falling night. Her light shone inside the flat through the glass doors leading to the balcony, illuminating their silhouettes and coloring them in hues of silver. Gone was the gray gloom clinging to him. The radiant smile of the moon had replaced it. 

He blinked, eyeing the view from the window. Night, when had that happened? How long had he been sitting outside? How long had they been standing here? Not that it mattered now. Not with the warm comfort of her home surrounding him, her arms enveloping him in a hug. New and raw but soothing too, her touch. His impossible girl. 

He stepped back, forcing her arms to slide from his shoulders, her hands coming to rest over his hearts once more. His own had moved from around her waist up to her face to cup her cheeks, his thumbs brushing the soft skin there. Their eyes met and she stared up into the swirling sea of color of his. There was a silent question in his gaze that he was too afraid to voice. His lips were parted as if he was about to speak, but again the words refused to form. They hadn’t spoken since she had held out her hand to him, why start now?

He saw her swallow, heard her breath catch, her eyes breaking away from him as they dropped to his parted lips before returning to his. A moment of uncertainty followed while he waited for her permission. Her fingers clung to the clammy fabric of his shirt, pulling him toward her, a silent consent. Relief washed over him and he followed her unspoken request.

His thin lips tasted of summer rain and stars. Hers tasted of home. 

_Fin_


End file.
